What stocking surprised you?

[Bev C]

@Odd Duck Beautiful Moss photos   I wish I had your thumb on moss growing .. I kill every type ...

[Fish Folk]

I’ve been an avid sport fisherman for many, many decades. Apart from one time when I was a kid and threw a small bullhead into a 10 gal tank in my room feeding him pieces of lunchmeat… it never occurred to me until very recently that native fish can be kept in home aquaria. Yeah… of course I saw natives in big tanks at Bass Pro shops, big public  aquariums, etc. But I was caught off guard by the sheer beauty of native fish for home aquaria. Here are photos of ones I keep, and of ones I dream of keeping.

In my tanks…

In my dreams…

[Odd Duck]

On 4/14/2022 at 6:21 AM, Bev C said:

@Odd Duck Beautiful Moss photos   I wish I had your thumb on moss growing .. I kill every type ...

Thank you!  Not all my mosses survive.  I really want some giant willow moss but x 2 on failing for me.  I’ll try again soon, but so far, no luck.  I’ve also had moss that was clicking along nicely then just randomly faded away.  I’ve even had moss just completely crash right from the beginning (both times on the giant willow moss).  Moss can sometimes be tricky, for sure.  So far, I’ve had decent luck overall.  Some projects are definitely more successful than others.

[Cinnebuns]

On 4/14/2022 at 7:46 AM, Fish Folk said:

I’ve been an avid sport fisherman for many, many decades. Apart from one time when I was a kid and threw a small bullhead into a 10 gal tank in my room feeding him pieces of lunchmeat… it never occurred to me until very recently that native fish can be kept in home aquaria. Yeah… of course I saw natives in big tanks at Bass Pro shops, big public  aquariums, etc. But I was caught off guard by the sheer beauty of native fish for home aquaria. Here are photos of ones I keep, and of ones I dream of keeping.

In my tanks…

In my dreams…

Those are beautiful! So much color?  They are native where you live?  Where do you live!

[Bev C]

@Odd Duck i can very relate to you …  killing plants If they say easy plants I kill it 😂Moss , Anubias Java ,Fern Banana plant  and a few Crypts i have killed them  tried moss 3 times 

my Pogostemon Stellatus Octopus  , Anubias Nana Petite and Ludwigia is struggling I have been trying different plants  to see what works for me I have been trying a plant twice  and if i kill it the second time I move on to the next plant  just trying to see what works for me The only plant I am stubborn and keep buying  is the Pogostemon Ocopus love the look would love to see it floating and planted . in my plants ,

I have better luck with little harder plants  like Water Wisteria, Crypt Lutea , Crypt Spirals  Cherry Leaf ,Amazon frogbit  the frogbit loves my tank  and my pothos plant is growing allot that i use the roots for nitrates 

I have been fighting brown algae in my tank specially on the plants and dying for a year now tried everything every one recommended from here on the forum , Candi from ACO and my fish shop  

i tried everything more water circulation  more water changes, less feeding, lights intensity and time , fertilizer dosing and-different brands, Easy Green Carbon, and Seachem Excel  nothing worked

I got my water from tap tested and the nitrates, phosphates and silicates are very high from the tap  

I have to pretreat my water. for phosphates and silicates before water changes i soak a small media bag of Seachem Phosguard in my water cans before adding to tank 

 But very recently my guy at the fish shop got some stuff Chemi -pure Green  in ,,he said he carried the  Chemi-pure Blue  for year works great in non planted tanks    the Chemi- pure Green is for plants 

Dylan my fish guy and I are testing it out it 1-3 months in the replacement for Seachem Purigen  

So far between Seachem Phosguard pre soak and  Chemi-pure Green it has my helped allot  for my tank water and my water testing results are better my water more clearer

my fish, snails and plants  are happier  my snails are mating like crazy

After 1 month and  one week I still have some algae but it is lots better and very management.less cleaning time  now i can go 2-3 weeks before cleaning I was doing 1-2 weekly  water changes My plants have less algae and I am seeing some more plant growth too 

[Minanora]

Harlequin Rasboras. My husband wanted them while I wanted ember tetras. I got 12 harlequins for the 75 back in October. I expected to lose some. All 12 are happy and healthy. They're still not my favorite, but they are interesting and the tank wouldn't be the same without them.

Same thing with swordtails. Husband wanted one. Now I picked out a pair and sell lots of babies.

[Fonske]

Well... admittedly, I got otos to eat brown algae. Didn't think they would be noticeable or pretty or interesting, but after keeping them for a while, I think they are actually very cute! Out and about all the time, surprisingly hardy, and quite willing to pose for pictures. ❤️

[Ogpulchra]

I don't particularly care for plecos, but I absolutely love the bristlenose I got with a tank I bought used. 

Thought I'd love neon blue rasboras (Sundadanio axelrodi), but I didn't know they had so much red. They colored up a ton once I got them home and on live food. They remind me too much of neon tetras. At least they are hardier and less shy than expected. Still enjoying them though!

[Bev C]

I am thinking of getting some Otocinclus catfish  for my brown algae and they would fit in if i do a bottom feeders tank  later  but I heard they was hard to keep after the algae is gone